Comments on: A Blast from the Past – More on Papa Luciani

By: Lori Pieper

Lori Pieper — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:35:50 +0000

I thought of checking the Acta Apostolica Sedis, which I downloaded from the Vatican web site, but it doesn’t have the act of election signed by the Pope, though it does have the documents signed by those who sealed the conclave, etc. On p. 690, the commentary (evidently not an official document) says that when asked for his name by Cardinal Villot, he said “Vocabor Iohannes Paulus.”

Well, all fascinating to speculate about. I am really glad that you are writing about your experience with Papa Luciani and can’t wit for you to finish it.

By: Deacon Bob

Deacon Bob — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:58:04 +0000

It would be interesting to see his signature on the act of his election. I haven’t been able to access/locate it.

By: Lori Pieper

Lori Pieper — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:07:45 +0000

Yes, it’s in all his signatures that I’ve seen. Whether he signed his act of election that way, I don’t know. Is that what you’re referring to?

By: Deacon Bob

Deacon Bob — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:11:46 +0000

Hi Lori,

If I am not mistaken, when Luciani signed his name after his papal election, he included the “I”. Is that your understanding?

By: Lori Pieper

Lori Pieper — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:23:41 +0000

Hi Bob, thanks for this great comment on “our” Pope.

I don’t know whether John Paul I chose to add the “I” for a particular purpose. But there is information on which we can speculate:

According to an Italian book called “I segreti del Vaticano” by Italian “Vaticanologist” Benny Lai, when it came time to choose his name, John Paul I was flanked by the premier cardinal priest, cardinal deacon and cardinal bishop in the college of cardinals. One of these (I can’t remember which) was Cardinal Siri, Archbishop of Genoa, who had been Luciani’s main rival for votes in the conclave.

When the new pope said “I will call myself John Paul,” Siri put in “John Paul I?” and Papa Luciani repeated it “John Paul I.” And it is that way that Cardinal Felici made the announcement from the balcony of St. Peter’s. I should note that Lai was a friend of Cardinal Siri’s and even wrote a biography of him, so it’s a safe bet this came directly from the cardinal.

Also, the next morning in his first Angelus address, the new Pope said that he had told the cardinals “I will call myself John Paul” — without the number. I don’t think the number had a lot of importance to him in the beginning.

But then, maybe a couple weeks later, according to John Paul I’s secretary, Father (later Bishop) Magee, the new Pope one day received a letter from a professor telling him it was wrong to add the Roman numeral after his name until there was a John Paul II. And the Pope told Magee, “write to him and tell him there will be a John Paul II soon enough.” So even if he didn’t adopt the number for a particular reason, he did know that he wouldn’t be there that long; and there are also indications he thought Cardinal Wojtyla would be his successor, but it would take a long time to go into those. So there you are!

I love reading newspaper clippings from long ago, and am delighted to hear that you have some. I have a great many for John Paul I as well.